This raid expedition begins with Therys the Botanist in The Grounds (located at the zone-in).

Pre-requisites for requesting this raid:- Giladan the Botanist's task arc (Giladan's Assistant; What a Mess; It Only Gets Worse)
- The Gardener (group mission)
- Completion of the "Tick Tock" and "Ritual of Terror" raids

Pre-requisites for participating in this raid:- Completion of at least one of the Tier 1 raids ("Tick Tock"; "Ritual of Terror")

You say, 'Hail, Therys the Botanist'

Therys the Botanist says 'It's fantastic, isn't it? Whoever built this place must have a strange sense of how to organize a garden. I've found perennials and quadrennials mixed together in ways which can lead to the loss of the plants, not to mention the fact that the sentient varieties of plant life here seem to be growing out of control, and disposed to murdering humanoids. No one remains here to tend this garden, if ever there was a gardener to begin with. These concerns, however, pale next to the real [threat] I've discovered here.'

You say, 'What threat?'

Therys the Botanist says 'The living heaps in the southwestern edge of the garden are growing at a prodigious rate. They are the new scourge of every garden and forest since adventurers brought their seeds back from the Plane of Earth; they grow out of control and usually must be burned away to prevent them from ruining their surroundings. Overgrown fibrous weeds, if you ask me. They should all be destroyed. I don't understand how they can sustain themselves for very long unless they overrun the entire garden and break free somehow. They must spread in order to thrive, but if they [spread], they will soon take over.'

You say, 'How do they spread?'

Therys the Botanist says 'Their biology is out of balance with nature, which is perhaps why the Rathe Council never saw fit to release them from their chamber. They lay roots and tendrils all around themselves with lightning-fast rapidity, they grow to prodigious sizes given more than the tiniest amount of sunlight, nutrients, and water, and their rate of multiplication could allow all of Norrath to be scourged by the things in less than a year. Unfortunately, the largest of the living heaps, who calls himself Thornbustle, has grown to the point of having intelligence. I was able to speak to it about what it wants, hoping to reason with it, but alas, it only wants to spread into Norrath and destroy those who would stand in its way, including me. I'm afraid it will take a force of determined adventurers to successfully deal with this matter. Will you and about fifty of your friends [intervene]?'

You say, 'We'll intervene'

Therys the Botanist says 'I am pleased. Help is on the way, and now this wretched garden may not end up being the birthplace of the end of Norrath as we know it! Just let me know when you're ready to [go].'

Therys the Botanist says 'Good luck to you then.'

This zones you into the instance.

Therys the Botanist is also inside the instance. You can zone out again by speaking to her.

You say, 'Hail, Therys the Botanist'

Therys the Botanist says 'How is the battle going, friend? Will you need to [retire] for a time? Say the word, and I will send you to safety.'

Summary

- Move quickly to the southwest area of the Grounds.
- If you don't make it there before the rotdogs spawn, you can either kill them or use a guild banner to port in.
- Clear an area around Thornbustle (mulch heaps are mezzable; brambly heaps are not).
- Kill Thornbustle while being careful of its damage shield and AEs.

Note: There are three similar nameds (Koransander, Beritoza, and Haelgord) in other parts of the zone, but Thornbustle is the only one that has any known bearing on the lockout and chest spawning.

Thornbustle says, "I've been patient with you lot, now you've gone too far. I'm the new Groundskeeper in this garden, and I'm releasing the hounds on you! In a short amount of time, my rotdogs will be gnawing your bones!"

Soon after you see that, rotdogs spawn all over the place, so you'll need to move to Thornbustle's area quickly or you'll have to clear a path.

There are also regular Grounds trash mobs all throughout the zone. All or most see invisibility.

Thornbustle

Thornbustle is NOT perma-rooted, but is leashed to a small area around his spawn point. If pulled out of this area, he resets aggro. He hits for a max ~20,000; flurries; single-target rampages; and occasionally AE rampages for full damage. He casts a non-dispellable damage shield on himself called "Thornbustle Reflection":

You are restricted to a certain number of deaths (around 30). If you hit the limit, the event resets.

For every death (including those to trash mobs and DOTs, but not pet deaths), you see this:

Ahhh... I have absorbed the soul of a fallen interloper! I shall use its energy to defend this place, for I am Thornbustle, Master of the Garden! All shall quaver in awe as I grow ever stronger, my branches and vines ever more impervious to attack!

After you hit the limit, the event resets and everyone alive in the zone is ported back to the zone-in.

Event Completion

Kill Thornbustle for the win.

Thornbustle has been slain by _____!
Thornbustle's corpse collapses in a pile of dying vines and woody tentacles.

Thornbustle says, "So this is death. . . But what will become of the garden without me. . . My life-force held this place together and gave it order ever since the strange ones stopped. . . stopped their. . ."

Devious Felblade
Mournful Axe of Trapped Souls
Remains of a Well Victim

The Unknown Mobs

None of the following is known to have any bearing on the event.

In addition to Thornbustle, there are three other similar nameds in other parts of the zone:

- Koransander (a treant in the far eastern part of the zone)
- Beritoza (a bixie in the bixie fort)
- Haelgord (a large peponnite in the pumpkin patch)

Each of these nameds is surrounded by several trash mobs of the same type. Some of the bixie mobs drop "Malodorous Bixie Pollen"; some of the treants drop "Massive Rotten Apple"; and some of the peponnites drop "Twinkling Pumpkin Pulp". The use of these items is unknown, and the purpose of these NPCs (if any) is unknown.